1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to safety equipment for waterborne vessels and more particularly to a rapidly deployable Personal Flotation Device (PFD) in the form of a disc upon which a safety line is spooled and which is thrown to a person in distress.
2. Prior Art
Boat operators are expected to make sure that their boats carry at least a minimum of safety equipment. The Coast Guard sets minimum safety standards for vessels and associated equipment. To meet these standards, some of the equipment must be Coast Guard Approved. xe2x80x9cCoast Guard Approved Equipmentxe2x80x9d has been determined to be in compliance with U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) specifications and regulations relating to performance, construction, or materials.
Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs) must be USCG approved, in good and serviceable condition and of appropriate size for the intended user. The wearable PFDs must be readily accessible, meaning that you must be able to put them on in a reasonable amount of time in an emergency.
One of the types of PFDs is a TYPE IV PFD. A TYPE IV PFD is a throwable device intended for calm, inland water with heavy boat traffic, where help is always present. It is designed to be thrown to a person in the water and grasped and held by the user until rescued. It is not designed to be worn. TYPE IV devices include buoyant cushions, ring buoys, and horseshoe buoys.
In addition to the rules for TYPE IV PFDs, a forty foot line is required to be attached to the PFD. Currently, the lines are attached and stored with the flotation device.
Existing throwable life rings are generally deployed from the deck of a vessel or dock and take the form of a floatable ring tethered to a line. These rings are thrown to the distressed swimmer and the line is thereafter used to retrieve the ring and the swimmer. In an emergency, speed is essential and the line must be accessible and not tangled. Because there is no control over the location or condition of the line, it may become tangled and fail to reach the person in the water when thrown.
The present invention seeks to address the inherent weaknesses in conventional life rings by providing an accessible and swiftly deployable flotation device to a distressed swimmer.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a floatable life preserver formed as a pair of discs which permit a life line to be spooled upon an inner hub such that the line is deployed smoothly as the device is thrown.
It is a further object of the invention to provide foam plastic outer chambers containing air which permit the device to float. Such chambers having the advantage of light weight and resistance to saturation with prolonged immersion in water.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a flotation device which can be deployed by persons who are either right or left handed.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a flotation device which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture. The device as described herein consists of a pair of identical, disc-shaped forms joined at a common central hub.